The greatest asset of any organization is its human resources. Organizations inclusive of Fiji Police invest heavily in its members and there is an expectation from the organization that members will reciprocate by means of productivity and efficiency.
For the past three years the Force has recorded 37 Police deaths. The worrying trend is that 31 out of the 37 deaths were preventable as they were due to Non-Communicable Diseases which makes up 84% of the deaths.
Death of Police Officers has major effects on the organization and a bigger impact on their families as their whole welfare is at stake, as well as of that of the nation.
As such the Fiji Police Force has now partnered up with the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health to conduct the Health Audit for 2013 which commenced yesterday.
The current Health Audit Result we have is now two years old, however as outlined within the Organization’s Health Policy, should be conducted on a yearly basis.
Based on the 2011 Health Audit Results, the Force Medical Unit (FMU) was able to categorize Police officers into color codes.
36% Green, 36% Amber and 28% Red. The shortfall was that a follow up program with regard to moving the officers towards green was not monitored adequately for the last two years.
Therefore, monitoring and evaluation will be the priority objective for the FMU this year, in order to effectively contribute to the achievement of having fit and healthy Police officers by 31st December, 2013.
Furthermore, through the Program, existing Chronic Medical Conditions will be noted which will then be referred to undergo either specialist clinical care or immediately recommended for Medical Board.
Breakdown of the deaths for the past three (3) years is as per Table 1 below:
|
Year Jan-Oct |
Total death |
|
2010 |
15 |
|
2011 |
10 |
|
2012 |
12 |
|
TOTAL |
37 |
Analyzing Cause of Death for the Last 3 Years
- Table 2 below denotes an analysis of causes of deaths for total deaths (37) in the Fiji Police Force for the past 3 years
| Year |
NCD related
|
Accident
Related |
Suicide | Total | |||
| Heart attack | Diabetes | Hypertension | Liver/Kidney | ||||
| 2010 |
8 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
15 |
| 2011 |
8 |
|
|
|
2 |
|
10 |
| 2012 |
8 |
|
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
12 |
|
Total |
24 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
37 |
- Of the three major causes of deaths it can be observed that NCD related is the highest at 84% followed by Accident related at 14%.
4.1 Analyzing Deaths by Age
|
AGE CATEGORY |
TOTAL DEATH |
|
21-25yrs |
2 |
|
26-30yrs |
1 |
|
31-35yrs |
3 |
|
36-40yrs |
1 |
|
41-45yrs |
11 |
|
46-50yrs |
7 |
|
51-55yrs |
12 |
|
Total |
37 |
Table 3 Graph 4
A look at table 3 and graph 4 above reveals that most deaths in the Fiji Police Force occur at the age category 51-55yrs. If one looks at the data properly it can be deduced that the critical age category of deaths is between 41-55yrs.
It has also been noted that 67 % deaths are amongst I-taukei officers in comparison with their Fijian(Indo) comrades which is 27 % and other 6%.
4.2 Analyzing Deaths between Rural/Urban Area
|
YEAR |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
TOTAL |
|
Urban |
12 |
10 |
11 |
33 |
|
Rural |
3 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
The lifestyle greatly reflects on one’s health as it is indicative through the above data the death rate is high in urban areas compared to rural areas which is 80% against 20%.
The Commissioner of Police for the betterment of the Police Officers has put in place the Wellness and Wellbeing Program which is a very significant measure to improve the standard of living of the Police officers.
There is a need to establish a monitoring and evaluation process which does not currently exist. This is expected to be monitored with the commencement of the 2013 Health Audit.
POLICE MEDIA CELL